The three leadership-development workshops in
February and March are top priority. Excitingly, we expect many new faces in
attendance. These workshops are being hosted by SaMnet Scholars from each
institution, exercising ‘distributed leadership’ in this 2014 workshop series.

Work continues on dissemination of SaMnet
project outcomes and results. We look forward to sharing publications with you
soon.

Alexander
McCormick, Robert Gonyea and Jillian Kinzie, The Magazine of Higher Learning

The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE)
has been used in American institutions now for 13 years. What questions can the
results now answer? Do students invest enough time in their studies? What
distinguishes engaging institutions? Is there evidence of improvement?

Speaking of engagement, Purdue University
has been employed technology to measure engagement using “about 20 data points”
and signalling to students how they are doing. Would this feedback on their
engagement help your students to stay on track?

6.Leadership insights

The start of semester is always hard, two
articles that could help from Forbes
Magazine:

“The composure of a leader is reflected in their
attitude, body language and overall presence. … It is clear that
leadership is not only about elevating the performance, aptitude and
development of people – but more so about the ability to make people feel safe
and secure.”

According to Warrell, having a
“not-so-inspiring” boss is an invaluable opportunity for developing executive
leadership skills. How is your head of school or dean leaving you with “space”
to develop your leadership capacity?

7. Initiative in Focus:

Tell us
what you are doing that is worth sharing – an initiative that is ‘working’.For example, got data on the performance of
others’ students that shows how a change initiative is taking hold?Here is a chance to share evidence of
progress.Begin articulating something
worth publishing as SoTL or big-noting in an application for an award or
promotion.

8.Classifieds

Have you used - or are you using - conceptual
surveys with students at your university in 2014? E.g., the Chemistry
Concept Inventory.Many science academics are sharing their results to give a national
perspective on student learning in lectures. Contact h.georgiou@physics.usyd.edu.au
for more details or to get involved.

Support for this project/activity has been provided by the Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching. The views in this project do not necessarily reflect the views of the Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching.